Oussama Tannane is a Moroccan-Dutch footballer who currently plays for Ligue 1 side Saint-Etienne. He’s an exciting player who can get people on the edge of their seats with his creativity and pace.

Who is Oussama Tannane?

Born in Tetouan, Morocco in March 1994, Oussama Tannane also has a dual nationality with the Netherlands, and has made two appearances for the Netherlands U21 national team.

Having spent his youth career at Zeeburgia, Ajax, FC Utrecht, PSV and SC Heerenveen. Tannane made his professional debut with SC Heerenveen at the age of 19 in the Netherlands Eredivisie league during the 2012-2013 season. He went on to make eight appearances for the team but was unable to score, and by the end of the season, he was released by SC Heerenveen and then went to sign for Heracles Almelo. Heracles are another Dutch club who also play in the Eredivisie league, where Tannane spent two and a half years, making 53 appearances and scoring 16 goals, also including four goals he scored in the 1st half in a match against SC Cambuur-Leeuwarden in a 6-1 away win. Tannane cut infield from the right and found the bottom corner with his left foot for his first. He then earned the penalty and dispatched it with little difficulty before sealing his hat-trick by beating 2 men and smashing a right-footed finish past the ‘keeper. Tannane saved his best for last that day as he ran at the beleaguered Cambuur defence before finding the top corner from outside the box.

Heracles did well with Tannane particularly shining in attack at his time with the club. The 1st part of this season saw him score 7 goals in 11 appearances.

In January 2016, Tannane signed with French Club AS Saint Etienne, making his debut against PSG coming on as a substitute. And in his 1st start for the club, he scored and got an assist in a 4-1 victory against Bordeaux.

Style of play, Strengths and Weaknesses

Oussama Tannane is a strongly left-footed player with a better height and weight than is expected from a winger. At 5ft 9, he is great at using his physique to gain space for himself on the ball, and to keep the ball under pressure to hold up play when needed. He is smart and does well in this factor as he knows how to hold it for long and when to release it. He has plenty of flair along with flashiness, productive skill and a constant goal threat.

The Dutchman can play anywhere across the attacking midfield line and is incredibly mature in the way he positions himself. His main position is at right wing.

Every opportunity Tannane gets when a gap appears in the opponent’s defence to take a shot, he will take it, from any distance. Most often he will strike the ball low with power to beat the goalkeeper. His placement is good and he knows where to aim the ball at goal, looking to surprise the keeper at his near post or going across the goal. All of Tannane’s shots will trouble the keeper. If the keeper can get a hand to the ball to prevent it from going in, it’s usually only just palmed out and still in the box causing problems. He’s mainly left footed, but he has the ability to strike the ball with either foot, still with enough power and placement.

He reads the game very well, especially for a young player. A few attacking players when they move clubs, usually look to show their worth by rewarding the club with goals, but Tannane looks to add to his value as he will work hard to get back and support his team’s defence. The midfielder has already formed a good connection with AS Saint Etienne’s right back Theophile-Catherine down on the right side of the field. The right back will now try to slow an opponent down as he knows Tannane is running back, determined to help his team mate out and win the ball back. The Netherlands midfielder can retrieve the ball back from opponents cleanly, tackling from behind and stopping the attack and winning possession for his team. Tannane also does well to find space for himself to receive the ball and to then find space to run into with the ball. He is also able to find team-mates with clever through balls that can cause any defence problems.

Tannane has the quality to create something out of nothing and a habit of setting up team-mates for clear openings.

He has the ability to take on players and will look to run down the wing or cut inside into the middle of the field. He is the type of player who can dictate the tempo in any match and often gets into one-on-one situations with goalkeepers, using his strength and pace to get goal side and catch the opponents’ defence out.

Personally Tannane reminds me of the playing style of Leicester City’s Riyad Mahrez, perhaps not as skilful as the Algerian winger who has been flying this season in the English Premier league, but both players, with a similar build in weight and height, are impossible to mark as they are unpredictable and quick on the ball. Tannane is slightly quicker than Mahrez and will look to make it his best advantage.

What does the future hold?

It will be interesting to see if perhaps Oussama Tannane can take another step up and improve his game even more at his new club. His contract at the club is till 2020 and Tannane will look to continue to grow in a league that, it is fair to say, matches and suits the way he likes to play football.

On the International level, Tannane is still eligible to play for the Morocco National team, but the African team seems to be struggling on and off the pitch in the last few years. They did feature in FIFA’S World Cup in France 1998, but have not qualified for the tournament since then, and as for the African Cup of Nations, the Morocco team was suspended and fined by The CAF Executive Committee on 5th February 2015, from the next three editions of the tournament taking place in the years 2015, 2017, 2019, as a result of Morocco deciding not to host the 2015 edition due to the high health risk that they deemed from the Ebola virus outbreak. However, the ban has since been overturned meaning Morocco may enter the tournaments now but everything still seems to be in limbo at this moment in time.

With the problems occurring around the Morocco team, Tannane would be more interested in trying to break into the Netherlands team, having grown up and played there, also playing twice for the national under21 team. The country failed to qualify for this year’s European Championship in France and are looking to rebuild a team with fresh and talented players such as Oussama Tannane.

Perry Littman is a recent graduate from Sports Management Worldwide, and has studied online courses in Soccer Scouting/Management and Analytics. His main focus is on the English, Germany and Spanish football and is a life long hammers fan.